Police in Hollywood, Florida were asking for the public’s help Tuesday after a Memorial Day shooting on the city’s packed boardwalk wounded nine people, five of them children, including a 1-year-old.
The chaos erupted Monday just before 7 p.m., according to a police statement. Cops were already on hand at the boardwalk, which was packed with families. Officers raced to the scene after hearing gunfire and began rendering aid to “multiple people with gunshot wounds,” the department said in a media release.
Nine people were shot, four of them between ages 1 and 17, and five aged 25 to 65.
“Of the nine victims, three have been treated and discharged, six others remain at the hospital in stable condition,” police said.
The shooting broke out between two groups arguing near a convenience store, a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop and a Subway on the Hollywood Oceanfront Broadwalk, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
Some people were detained after the shooting and arrested on firearms charges, though they were not identified as the shooters, the police statement said. Police spokesperson Deanna Bettineschi said at least one person was in custody but police were seeking more suspects.
“The Hollywood Police Department is currently looking to identify three people we believe are involved in yesterday’s shooting,” police said.
Police recovered five handguns, two of them stolen, the department said, one from Texas, and the other from Miami Dade.
“I am deeply saddened and angered by the Memorial Day shooting in our city that resulted in injuries to innocent bystanders,” Mayor Josh Levy said in a statement Tuesday, sending condolences to the victims and their families.
“It is completely unacceptable that innocent people spending time with family on a holiday weekend have been affected by a shooting altercation between two groups who came into our city with guns and no regard for the safety of the law-abiding public around them. I assure you that no stone will be left unturned in bringing the perpetrators to justice.”